New Adventures in Space Opera

by Jonathan Strahan (Editor)

Overview

Ann Leckie / Becky Chambers / Alastair Reynolds / T. Kingfisher / Charlie Jane Anders / Anya Johanna DeNiro / Yoon Ha Lee / Lavie Tidhar / Tobias S. Buckell / Arkady Martine / Aliette de Bodard / Seth Dickinson / Karin Tidbeck

Award-winning Australian science-fiction editor Jonathan Strahan (The Best Science Fiction of the Year series) presents the quintessential guide to the exciting New Space Opera. This skillfully curated, must-read volume gathers fifteen dramatic, newly classic interstellar adventures from some of the most highly acclaimed and popular speculative-fiction authors.

“There is no better or more expert editor working in SF; impeccable taste, great range, excellent choices. Anyone interested in space opera will want to buy New Adventures in Space Opera.”
—Adam Roberts, author of The This

In “Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance,” a cloud-based contractor finds a human war criminal clinging to the hull of the ship. The clones of “All the Colors You Thought Were Kings,” about to attend their coming-of-age ceremony, are also plotting treason. During “A Temporary Embarrassment in Spacetime,” two outlaws go on the run after stealing a device from a space cult.

Take a faster-than-light trip to the future. Discover where memes rise and fall in moments. Here are the new and adventurous takes on interplanetary battles, sentient starships, and galactic intrigue. This must-read volume gathers fifteen dramatic, newly classic stories from some of the most highly acclaimed speculative authors.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781616964207
Publisher:	Tachyon Publications
Publication date:	08/13/2024
Pages:	336
Sales rank:	145,663
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Jonathan Strahan is an award-winning editor, podcaster, critic, and publisher from Belfast, Northern Ireland. He has edited or co-edited more than seventy anthologies and twenty short story collections. Strahan has received the World Fantasy, Aurealis, Atheling, and Ditmar Awards. He is currently the Reviews Editor at Locus Magazine, and a consulting editor for Tor.com. Strahan lives in Perth, Western Australia, with his family.

Table of Contents

“Introduction: From the New Space Opera to Here. . . .” by Jonathan Strahan
“Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance” by Tobias S. Buckell
“Extracurricular Activities” by Yoon Ha Lee
“All the Colors You Thought Were Kings” by Arkady Martine
“Belladonna Nights” by Alastair Reynolds
“Metal Like Blood in the Dark” by T. Kingfisher
“A Temporary Embarrassment in Spacetime” by Charlie Jane Anders
“Immersion” by Aliette de Bodard
“Morrigan in the Sunglare” by Seth Dickinson
“The Old Dispensation” by Lavie Tidhar
“A Good Heretic” by Becky Chambers
“A Voyage to Queensthroat” by Anya Johanna DeNiro
“The Justified” by Ann Leckie
“Planetstuck” by Sam J. Miller
“The Last Voyage of Skidbladnir” by Karin Tidbeck

Editorial Reviews

06/03/2024

Hugo Award winner Strahan (Twelve Tomorrows) spotlights 15 sophisticated, award-winning science fiction stories from the past decade that epitomize the best of space opera. He defines the genre as “romantic adventure... told on a grand scale,” set either in space or on a space station with high-stakes plot—and each of these perceptive and evocative stories perfectly fits the bill. In Tobias S. Buckell’s clever revenge tale, “Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance,” after a galactic war, a sentient maintenance robot discusses free will with a cybernetically enhanced human from the fleet that surrendered. Yoon Ha Lee’s “Extracurricular Activities” delivers a lively adventure when assassin Jedao infiltrates a space station to rescue a former classmate and their crew, all while fighting pirates and evading a gene-altering substance. Aliette de Bodard’s pensive “Immersion” imagines a future in which a device provides wearers with an avatar and guidance on culturally acceptable appearance, language, and gestures, while obfuscating any sense of individuality, ethnicity, and heritage. Other stories feature vindictive clones, a planet-eating blob, outlaws, and space cults. Throughout, plentiful action, enigmatic and complex worldbuilding, sinister technology, and vast space vistas impress. It’s a gift for sci-fi lovers. Agent Howard Morhaim, Howard Morhaim Agency. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

There is no better or more expert editor working in SF; impeccable taste, great range, excellent choices. Anyone interested in space opera will want to buy New Adventures in Space Opera.”
—Adam Roberts, author of The This

“A collection of a “who’s who” [in] modern science fiction and Jonathan Strahan’s focus on the selection of superb stories.”
—Science Fiction Short Story Reviews

“Hugo Award winner Strahan (Twelve Tomorrows) spotlights 15 sophisticated, award-winning science fiction stories from the past decade that epitomize the best of space opera. He defines the genre as ‘romantic adventure... told on a grand scale,’ set either in space or on a space station with high-stakes plot—and each of these perceptive and evocative stories perfectly fits the bill. In Tobias S. Buckell’s clever revenge tale, ‘Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance,’ after a galactic war, a sentient maintenance robot discusses free will with a cybernetically enhanced human from the fleet that surrendered. Yoon Ha Lee’s ‘Extracurricular Activities’ delivers a lively adventure when assassin Jedao infiltrates a space station to rescue a former classmate and their crew, all while fighting pirates and evading a gene-altering substance. Aliette de Bodard’s pensive ‘Immersion’ imagines a future in which a device provides wearers with an avatar and guidance on culturally acceptable appearance, language, and gestures, while obfuscating any sense of individuality, ethnicity, and heritage. Other stories feature vindictive clones, a planet-eating blob, outlaws, and space cults. Throughout, plentiful action, enigmatic and complex worldbuilding, sinister technology, and vast space vistas impress. It’s a gift for sci-fi lovers.”
—Publishers Weekly

“An excellent representation of what space opera is doing in the short-of-novel space.”
—File 770

“Overall, New Adventures in Space Opera is a great collection of stories that both add new elements to the genre and celebrate its long and beloved history among non-pretentious science fiction lovers. Its inclusion of a wide variety of styles and topics means there’s likely something in it for everyone. It's a great edition to any shelf for those who love scifi, and maybe many who don’t yet realize that they do.”
—Weightless State

From the Publisher

07/01/2024

These previously published stories from the last decade come from authors at the top of their game. The standouts in this excellent collection are Becky Chambers's "A Good Heretic" and T. Kingfisher's Hugo-winning novelette "Metal Like Blood in the Dark." Other stories that make this collection worth diving into include Arkady Martine's "All the Colors You Thought Were Kings," which manages to combine a coming-of-age story with political assassination, cultural upheaval, and the rueful knowledge that the more things change, the more they remain the same. Aliette de Bodard's Hugo-nominated "Immersion" is a heartbreaker about the tools of empire, the price of cultural appropriation, and fighting back with a little help from friends. Rounding out the collection are stories by Ann Leckie, Alastair Reynolds, Yoon Ha Lee, Lavie Tidhar, and Seth Dickinson, among others, including Charlie Jane Anders's utterly over-the-top, absolutely riotous and humorous romp, "A Temporary Embarrassment in Spacetime." VERDICT SF readers used to seeing space opera as multi-doorstop series will find a lot to love in this collection of skillful short works in a popular subgenre. Fans of the featured authors will love seeing their favorites' work in shorter forms.—Marlene Harris

Library Journal